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REPORT 



THE MILITARY SERVICES 



Gen. David IItxtrr, U.S.A., 



The War of the Rebellion, 



MADK TO THE 



r. S. \V\R DI'PARTMEXT. 
i873. 



Nkw York : 
D. VAN NOSTRAND, PUBLISHER, 

Nos. a;, MIRR.W .\Nl) --7 WARRKN STRKKT. 

1S73. 



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REPORT. 



War DKi'AKi.MKNr, Ai)Jutant-Gi-:nkrai.'s Office, 
Wash INC. ION, Ai)ril 25, 1S73. 

CoLoXFJ, D.w'ii) IIuxti:r, [■. S.Arn/y, 1726 
I S/ reef. WasJiiiio^toji, D. C. : 

Sir: In response to )-()ur verbal recjuest 
of \esterda\'. I haxe the honor to furnish the 
followinL;' extract from the coniniunication fnjiii 
this Office, dated June 14. 1872, calhn^- for a 
report of yoiw niihtar)- services durin^,^ the 
war : 

''With a view to uniforinil)- in tlic reports, 
please state date of assuming- and beiny; re- 
lieved from each command ; how subsecpiendy 



4 

employed ; date and period of each leave of 
absence ; if on court-martial or military com- 
mission, when, where, and for what period ; 
name of President and Judge- Advocate ; also, 
name, rank, and period of service of each of 
your staff-officers, with a brief summary of 
each batde in which you were engaged, and 
report on letter paper, leaving one inch 
margin on left-hand side for bindinof." 

In .regard to the extent or minuteness of 
the report, you are at liberty to exercise your 
own pleasure, and also consult your own time 
and convenience in its preparation. 

While an outline sketch mi^ht answer all 
practical purposes, 3'^et a detailed narrative is 
preferred. 

Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 
J. P. MARTIN, 
A ss ist. A dju ta n t- Genera l. 

In compliance with the above order, I have 



5 

l1i(j lionor to report that I was hoiai in the 
State of New Jltsc)', ^^raduatcel iVoin the 
Mihtary Acadeiii)- at West Point in 1822, 
serx'ecl eleven )-ears in th(.' inlantr\, and was 
then selected lor promotion, as Captain, in the 
new reL;iinent of dragoons, in which I ser\ed 
lor three )ears. I la\ iiii^', for reasons connect- 
ed with ni\- pri\ate atlairs, withdrawn h'(jni 
the army tor a lew \ears, I renewed my con- 
nection with it in 1S41, in the Pa)' Depart- 
ment. ser\in^" with th(' Arnu' under Gen. 
'r.wi.oR, through the late war with Mexico. 
HurinL;- the Presidential campaiL;i"i which issued 
in the election of Mr. Lixeoi.x, I was stationed 
at P\)rt Lea\en worth, Kansas. Man\- of the 
officers of the garrison were of Southern orij^in 
and s\ nipathies, and the)- freel)' discussed the 
political ([uestions then a^-jtatini^- the ccnmtr)-. 
B)' one of their numl)er it was distinct!)- stated 
that the South would not allow the inaugura- 
tion of an " abolition President " ; that if Mr. 



LiNXOLX were elected, he would not be per- 
mitted to go to Washington ; that four years 
previously, arrangements had been made to 
prevent the inauguration of Gen. Fremont 
in case of his election ; that the Governors of 
Virginia and Maryland were each to furnish 
ten thousand men, and the other States of the 
South their quota ; that they were to take 
possession of Washington, and make Mr. 
Pierce hold over until they had perfected 
their arrangements. Believing then, as I do 
now, the substantial truth of these representa- 
tions, and feeline assured of Mr. Lincoln's 
election, I deemed it my duty to communicate 
this information to him, and to urge upon him 
to induce his friends to take efficient means 
to secure his peaceable inauguration, and to 
render certain the possession of the seat of 
Government. I have several notes from Mr. 
Lincoln on this subject. 



7 

SERVICES IN \VASIlIN(rrON. 

After the election, I was iiivit(jci 1j\' Mr. 
Lixcoi.x to accompaii)- him to Washington ; 
and liis inau^-uration haxin^ \)ccn acconij)Hsh- 
cd, I was orelcrc'd ])y (icn. Scori' to take 
charge of the: I're.'sitlL'iuial mansion. I'\)r six 
weeks I spent evcr\' ni^ht in the P^ast Room, 
where I could receive the rej)orts ot mv L;iiard 
without disturbin^^ the members of the fimil\-. 
This guard consisted of about one hundred 
gentlemen from all [)arts of the Union, who, 
on being apprised of the danger, cheerfully 
enrolled themselves for ser\ice. 

On the 14th of May, 1861, I was appointed 
Colonel of the Sixth Ca\alr\-, a new regiment 
just then added to the regular arm\'. As the 
volunteers arrived in W^ashington, I was 
ordered to the command of a brigade called 
the Brigade of the A(jueduct, stationed on the 
Virginia hills, inimediatel)' opposite George- 
town. 



8 

FIRST BATTLE OF BULL RUN. 

I was relieved from the command of die 
Brig-ade of die Aqueduct by Gen. W. T. 
Sherman, then Colonel of the Thirteenth 
Infantry, in June, 1861, and ordered to take 
command of the Right Division of the army 
about to advance on the enemy, in the vicinity 
of Manassas. That division I commanded at 
the battle of Bull Run, July 21, 1861. I was 
wounded in the neck shortly after the com- 
mencement of the battle, while endeavoring 
to induce my advanced guard to charge the 
enemy with the bayonet. Gen. Andrew 
Porter, who commanded my first brigade, 
assumed command on beinof informed that I 
was disabled. The loss of that battle an all- 
wise Providence overruled to a great success. 

After the battle of Bull Run I was appointed 
a Brioradier-General of Volunteers, to date 
from May 17, 1861 ; and a Major-General of 
Volunteers, to date from August 13, 1861. 



rAMI'.\I(;\ 1\ MISSUL'kl. 

When sufficicMUl)' recovered from in\- wound 
to aclniil of aclivc! tliily. I was ordered to 
report to (ien. 1m<i;.M( »x r. then In command 
ot tlie \\\!Stern I )e[)artment, with his liead- 
([uarters at St. Louis. I commanded tli(! I^rst 
I )i\ision of (i(mi. Fkkmoxt's arm\- in its ad- 
\-ancc on Sprini^lield, Missouri ; and on the 
2d of November, 1861. I relieved Gen. V\u:- 
MOXT in command of tlie W^jstern Depart- 
ment, at Sprin^ficKl. 1)\- ordcn* of the President, 
at the same time receix-inu;' from the President 
the following- autOL^-raphic letter : 

W'AstnNc.TON, Oct. 24, 1 86 1. 
Sir: The command of the Department of 
the \\\!St haxini;' de\-()l\-ed u[)on \-ou, I pro- 
pose to offer you a few s/to<^rs//o/Ls\ knowiui;' 
how hazardous it is to hind down a distant 
commandc;r in tlu! fu^ld to specilic lines and 
operations, as so much always depends on a 



knowledge of localities and passing events. 
It is intended, therefore, to leave a consider- 
able margin for the exercise of your judgment 
and discretion. 

The main rebel army (Price's) west of the 
Mississippi is believed to have passed Dade 
Count)', in full retreat upon Northwestern 
Arkansas, leaving Missouri almost freed from 
the enemy, excepting in the southeast of the 
State. Assuming this basis of facts, it seems de- 
sirable, as you are not likely to overtake Price, 
and are in danger of making too long a line 
from your own base of supplies and reinforce- 
ments, that you should give up the pursuit, 
halt your main army, divide it into two corps 
of observation, one occupying Sedalia, and the 
other Rolla, the present termmi of railroads ; 
then recruit the condition of both corps, by 
re-establishing and 'improving their discipline 
and instruction ; perfecting their clothing and 
equipments, and providing less uncomfortable 



11 



quarters. Of course, l)()th railroads must be 
a-uardt!cl anil kept open, judiciously emph^xinL;' 
just as nuuh forci- as is necessary for this. 
From these two points, Scxlalia and R(>lla, and 
especially in judicious co-oi)eration with Lane 
on the Kansas border, it would be so easy to 
concentrate-, and re[)el any army of tlu! enemy 
returnin-- on Missouri from the Southwest, 
that it is not probable any such attempt to 
return will be made before or during the 
approaching' cold weather. 

Before spring, the people of Missouri will 
be in no fa\orable mood to renew, for the next 
year, the troubles which have so much afflicted 
and impoverished them during this. 

If you adopt this line of policv, and if, as I 
anticipate, you will see no enemy in great force 
approaching, \'ou will have a surplus of force, 
which you can withdraw from these points 
and direct to others, as may be needed, the 
railroads furnisliinL-- readv means for rein- 



12 

forcing these main points if occasion re- 
quires. 

Doubtless local uprisings, for a time, will 
continue to occur ; but these can be met by 
detachments and local forces of our own, and 
will, ere long, tire out of themselves. 

While, as stated in the beginning of this 
letter, a large discretion must be, and is, left 
to yourself, I feel sure that an indefinite pur- 
suit of Price, or an attempt by this long and 
circuitous route to reach Memphis, will be 
exhaustive beyond endurance, and will end in 
the loss of the whole force engaged in it. 

Your obedient servant, 

A. LINCOLN. 

To THE Commander of the 

Department of the West. 

I give this letter of Mr. Lincoln in full, to 
show the soundness of his judgment even in 
military affairs. The idea of chasing Price 



13 

into the wilds of WV-strni Arkansas, and thus 
putting- the arnu' ciUircl)- out ot position, and 
|)rc'\('ntinL;- op(!rations on the lower Mississippi 
during' the winter, was so absurd that I should 
not haw; thoui^ht of it for a moment, even 
if I had not had the jjood acKice ot Mr. 
Li.woi.x. 

I arrivciil at Springfield, on the ni^ht ot the 
1st of November, with orders in m\' j)ossessi()n 
to relieve Cien. b'kKMoxr. I immediatel\' went 
to the General's (juarters, and found him in 
the midst of a Council of \\\ar, planning- an 
attack on the enem)' at da)iio^ht the next 
morning-, at Wilson's Creek. As soon as an 
opportunity offered, one of his Generals 
whispered to me not to concern myself about 
the Council or the attack at dayli;4ht, as there 
was no enemy within sixty miles of Wilson's 
Creek. This statement I found to be literally 
true. 



14 

SERVICES IN KANSAS. 

On the 9th of November, 1861, I was re- 
lieved of the command of the Western Depart- 
ment, by the order of Gen. Geo. B. McClellan, 
and ordered to the command of the Depart- 
ment of Kansas. Under date of Dec. 11, 
1 86 1, Gen. McClellan writes to me: " In re- 
gard to placing Gen. Halleck in command of 
the Department of Missouri, that step was 
taken from the evident necessity of placing 
some one there who was in no manner con- 
nected, /or or against, with the unfortunate 
state of affairs previously existing in that De- 
partment." The meaning of that sentence I 
was not able to determine. 

During my short stay in Kansas, it was 
my good fortune to render important service, 
not in the field, for there was not an enemy 
within my Department, but by furnishing, from 
my own small force, assistance to neighboring 
commanders. At this time I was superior in 



IS 
rank to Gen. Halleck and also to Gen. Canby, 
then commanding- in New Mexico. They both 
appealed to me for assistance, and on my 
own responsibility I sent them help. In a 
telegram, Gen. Halleck thus frankly acknow- 
ledges my assistance : 

St. Louis, Feb. 19, 1862. 
Major- General Hunter, Department of 
Kansas : 
To you, more than any other man in this 
Department, are we indebted for our success 
at Fort Donelson. In my strait for troops to 
reinforce Gen. Grant, I appealed to you. 
You nobly and generously placed your forces 
at my disposition. This enabled us to win the 
victory. Receive my most heartfelt thanks. 

H. W. Halleck, 

Major- General. 

At the same time, I took the responsibility 
of sending Gen. John P. Slough's regiment 



t6 

of mounted Colorado Volunteers, by forced 
marches, to Gen. Canby's assistance in New 
Mexico. This regiment gained a splendid 
victory over the enemy at the Canon Glori- 
etta, which, it is acknowledged, saved New 
Mexico. 

DEPARTMENT OF THE SOUTH. 

Having been ordered to the Department 
of the South, I assumed command of that 
department March 31, 1862, relieving Gen. 
Thomas W. Sherman. I commanded at the 
bombardment of Fort Pulaski, Georgia, on the 
loth and nth of April, 1862. As this fort had 
been pronounced impregnable by the chief 
engineers of both services, we were quite 
surprised to see their flag come down after a 
bombardment of only thirty hours. The ex- 
pensive mortar batteries, chiefly relied on for 
the reduction of this fort, were utterly worth- 
less, not one of the large shells having been 
thrown into the fort. 



^7 

The constant and urorent demands for men 
in every direction rendered it impossible for 
the War Department to send me the promised 
reinforcements. 

I left the Department of the South on the 
3d of Sept., 1862, on leave of absence, and 
came to Washington, hoping to obtain more 
active employment. On the 23d of the same 
month, I was detailed as president of a court- 
martial for the trial of Gen. Fitzjohn Porter ; 
Gen. Holt, Judge-Advocate General, assisted 
by the Hon. John A. Bingham, of Ohio, being 
the Judge-Advocate. On the 21st of January, 
1863, I was relieved from that duty, and 
ordered back to the Department of the South. 

ARMING THE NEGROES. 

While in this command I issued an order 
freeine the slaves in South Carolina, Georo-ia, 
and Florida, the States composing my De- 
partment — my theory being that slavery, ex- 



isting only by municipal enactments, ceased 
to exist the moment a subject by his rebellion 
placed himself beyond .the pale of these en- 
actments. I also enlisted a regiment of these 
freedmen. Mr. Lincoln repudiated, in the 
newspapers, my order freeing the slaves, but 
he never sent me his proclamation or the first 
word of disapprobation ; on the contrary, I 
believe he rejoiced in my action, and his great 
interest in the colored troops is shown by the 
followincr characteristic letter: 

[Private.] 

" Executive Mansion, Washington, 
" April I, 1863. 

*' Major- General Hunter : 

'' My Dear Sir : I am glad to see the ac- 
counts of your colored force at Jacksonville, 
Florida. I see the enemy are driving at them 
fiercely, as is to be expected. It is important 
to the enemy that such force shall not take 
shape and grow and thrive in the South; and 



19 

in precisely the same proportion it is import- 
ant to us that it shall. Hence the utmost 
caution and vigilance is necessary on our part. 
The enemy will make extra efforts to destroy 
them, and we should do the same to preserve 
and increase them. 

" Yours truly, 

-A. LINCOLN." 

From the beginning I urged upon the Gov- 
ernment, in the strongest terms, the enlist- 
ment of negro troops, the former slaves of the 
rebels, not only as adding to the number and 
efficiency of our own forces, but chiefly on 
account of its depriving the enemy of just so 
much labor in their fields, and compelling 
them to send an equal number of white men 
to do the necessary cultivation. The regiment 
of negroes which I enlisted in South Carolina 
on my own responsibility was a great success. 
The men acquired the drill with great rapidity ; 



they were subordinate and attentive to all their 
duties, and particularly successful on picket 
duty. I made repeated efforts In vain to get 
this regiment recognized and paid by the 
Government. It was a delicate subject, and I 
could get no reply approving or disapproving 
my conduct In this matter. Fortunately for 
me, however, the Hon. Mr. Wickliffe, of Ken- 
tucky, conceiving I had committed a heinous 
crime, introduced a denunciatory resolution 
into the House of Representatives. This re- 
solution was referred to me by the Hon. Sec- 
retary of War, and my report in reply was 
Immediately sent to Congress. That report is 
as follows : 

" Headquarters, Department of the South, 
" Hilton Head, S. C, June, 1862. 

''To THE Hon. E. M. Stanton, Secretary of 
War, Washington, D. C. : 

''Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge the 



receipt of a communication from the Adjutant- 
General of the Army, dated June 13, 1862, 
requesting me to furnish you with the Informa- 
tion necessary to answer certain resolutions 
introduced in the House of Representatives, 
June 9, 1862, on motion of the Hon. Mr. 
WiCKLiFFE, of Kentucky, their substance being 
to enquire : 

" I. Whether I had organized, or was 
ora-anlzlno- a reelnient of ' fugitive slaves ' in 
this Department ? 

" 2. Whether any authority had been given 
to me from the War Department for such or- 
ganization ; and, 

" 3. Whether I had been furnished, by 
order of the War Department, with clothing, 
uniforms, arms, equipments, and so forth, for 
such a force ? 

^' Only having received the letter at a late 
hour this evening, I urge forward my answer 
in time for the steamer sailing to-morrow 



22 



morning — this haste preventing me from en- 
tering as minutely as I could wish upon many 
points of detail, such as the paramount im- 
portance of the subject would seem to call for. 
But, in view of the near termination of the 
present session of Congress, and the wide- 
spread interest which must have been awaken- 
ed by Mr. Wickliffe's resolutions, I prefer 
sending even this imperfect answer to waiting 
the period necessary for the collection of fuller 
and more comprehensive data. 

"To the first question, therefore, I reply: 
that no regiment of ' fugitive slaves ' has been 
or is being organized in this department. 
There is, however, a fine regiment of loyal 
persons whose late masters are ' fugitive 
rebels ' — men who everywhere fly before the 
appearance of the national flag, leaving their 
loyal and unhappy servants behind them to 
shift, as best they can, for themselves. So 
far, indeed, are the loyal persons composing 



23 

this regiment from seeking to evade the pres- 
ence of their late owners, that they are now, 
one and all, endeavoring with commendable 
zeal to acquire the drill and discipline requi- 
site to place them in a position to go in full 
and effective pursuit of their fugacious and 
traitorous proprietors. 

"To the second question, I have the honor 
to answer that the instructions pfiven to Brie.- 
Gen. T. W. Sherman by the Hon. Simon 
Cameron, late Secretary of War, and turned 
over to me, by succession, for my guidance, 
do distinctly authorize me to employ ' all 
loyal persons offering their services in defence 
of the Union, and for the suppression of this 
rebellion,' in any manner I may see fit, or 
that circumstances may call for. There is no 
restriction as to the character or color of the 
persons to be employed, or the nature of the 
employments — whether civil or military — in 
which their services may be used. I conclude, 



24 

therefore, that I have been authorized to en- 
list ' fugitive slaves ' as soldiers, could any 
such fugitives be found in this Department. 
" No such characters, however, have yet 
appeared within view of our most advanced 
pickets — the loyal negroes everywhere remain- 
ing on their plantations to welcome us, aid 
us, and supply us with food, labor, and in- 
formation. It is the masters who have in 
every instance been the ' fugitives,' running 
away from loyal slaves as well as loyal sol- 
diers ; and these, as yet, we have only par- 
tially been able to see — chiefly their heads 
over ramparts, or dodging behind trees, rifle 
in hand, in the extreme distance. In the 
absence of any ' Fugitive Master Law,' the 
deserted slaves would be wholly without 
remedy, had not the crime of treason given the 
right to pursue, capture, and bring back those 
persons of whose benignant protection they 
have been thus suddenly and cruelly bereft. 



''To the third interrogatory, it is my pain- 
ful duty to reply that I have never received 
any specific authority for issues of clothing, 
uniforms, arms, equipments, and so forth, to 
the troops in question — my general instruc- 
tions from Mr. Cameron, to employ them in 
any manner I might find necessary, and the 
military exigencies of the Department and the 
countrv, being my only, but I trust sufficient, 
justification. Neither have I had any specific 
authority for supplying these persons with 
shovels, spades, and pickaxes, when employ- 
ing them as laborers ; nor with boats and oars 
when using them as lightermen; but these 
are not points included in Mr. Wickliffe's 
resolution. To me it seemed that liberty to 
employ men in any particular capacity im- 
plied and carried with it liberty, also, to 
supply them with the necessary tools; 
and, acting upon this faith, I have clothed, 
equipped, and armed the only loyal regiment 



-6 

yet raised in South Carolina, Georgia, or 
Florida. 

" I must say, in vindication of my own con- 
duct, that had it not been for the many other 
diversified and imperative claims upon my 
time and attention, a much more satisfactory 
result might have been achieved ; and that in 
place of only one regiment, as at present, at 
least five or six well-drilled, brave, and tho- 
roughly acclimated regiments should by this 
time have been added to the loyal forces of 
the Union. 

'' The experiment of arming the blacks, so 
far as I have made it, has been a complete 
and marvellous success. They are sober, 
docile, attentive, and enthusiastic — displaying 
great natural capacities in acquiring the 
duties of the soldier. They are now eager 
beyond all things to take the field and be 
led into action ; and it is the unanimous opi- 
nion of the officers who have had charge of 



27 

them, that, in the peculiarities of this dimate 
and country, they will prove invaluable auxi- 
liaries — fully equal to the similar regiments 
so long and successfully used by the British 
authorities in the West India Islands. 

*' In conclusion, I would say, it is my hope, 
there appearing no possibility of other rein- 
forcements — owing to the exigencies of the 
campaign in the Peninsula — to have organized 
by the end of next fall, and be able to pre- 
sent to the Government, from forty-eight to 
fifty thousand of these hardy and devoted 
soldiers. 

''Trusting that this letter may be made 
part of your answer to Mr. Wickliffe's reso- 
lutions, I have the honor to be, very respect- 
fully, 

'' Your most obedient servant, 

(Signed) DAVID HUNTER, 

^' Major-Genei^al Cojnmaiidingr 



28 

This brought the whole subject before the 
country, and Congress at once authorized 
the enHsting of fifty thousand negroes, and 
subsequently of a still larger number. My 
poor South Carolina regiment, however, was 
discharged without pay — martyrs in a good 
cause. How my action in reference to the 
enlistment of Southern negroes was regarded 
by the enemy, is sufficiently evident from the 
following General Order, issued by the Con- 
federate Government at Richmond : 

War Department, 
Adjutant and Ins.-Gen.'s Office, 

Richmond, August 21, 1862. 

General Orders — No. 60. 

Whereas, Major-.General Hunter, recently 
in command of the enemy's forces on the 
coast of South Carolina, and Brigadier- Gen- 
eral Phelps, a military commander of the 
enemy in the State of Louisiana, have organ- 



29 

ized and armed negro slaves for military 
service against their masters, citizens of this 
Confederacy. And whereas, the Govern- 
ment of the United States has refused to 
answer an enquiry whether said conduct of 
its officers meets its sanction, and has thus 
left this Government no other means of 
repressing said crimes and outrages than the 
adoption of such measures of retaliation as 
shall serve to prevent their repetition : 

Ordered, that Major- General Hunter and 
Brigadier- General Phelps be no longer held 
and treated as public enemies of the Con- 
federate States, but as outlaws ; and in the 
event of the capture of either of them, or 
that of any other officer employed in drilling, 
oreanizinof, or instructing slaves, with a view 
to their armed service in this war, he shall 
not be regarded as a prisoner of war, but 
held in close confinement for execution as a 



3° 

felon, at such time and place as the Presi- 
dent shall order. 

By order, S. COOPER, 

Adjittant and Inspector-General . 

This infamous edict was never noticed by 
our Government, and they went on exchanging 
prisoners as if no such insult had been offered. 
I remained under this ban till the end of the 
war. I, however, took effectual measures to 
protect my own officers. One of them had 
been taken prisoner near St. Augustine, 
Florida, and thrown into the common jail in 
Charleston. He informed me, by an open 
letter, sent by a rebel flag of truce, that he was 
to be sent back to Florida, to be tried by the 
civil courts on a charge of exciting an insurrec- 
tion of the negroes. I immediately notified 
the rebel authorities that I would at once seize 
and place in close confinement all citizens of 
any influence within my lines, and would im- 



31 

mediately execute three of their number for 
every one of my officers injured. In a few 
days, I received another open letter from this 
officer, saying that he had been released from 
confinement, was treated most kindly by the 
people of Charleston, and was, on the first 
opportunity, to be sent North for exchange. 

While in command of the Department of 
the South, I was off the harbor of Charleston, 
in the steamer Ben de Ford, and witnessed 
the naval attack on Fort Sumter by nine 
iron-clads, under the command of Admiral Du 
Pont. In relation to the situation of affairs in 
the Department, after this attack, I beg leave 
to refer to my letter to the President of May 
2 2, 1863, as follows: 

Headquarters, Department of the South, 

Hilton Head, Port Royal, S. C, 

May 22, 1863. 

Dear Sir: It is more than six weeks since 



32 

the attack by the Iron-clads upon Charleston — 
an attack in which, from the nature of the 
plans of Admiral Du Pont, the army had no 
active part. 

On the day of that attack, the troops under 
my command held Folly Island up to Light 
House Inlet. On the mornino- after the attack, 
we were in complete readiness to cross Light 
House Inlet to Morris Island, where, once 
established, the fall of Sumter would have 
been as certain as the demonstration of a pro- 
blem in mathematics. Aided by a cross-fire 
from the navy, the enemy would soon have 
been driven from Cummings' Point ; and 
with powerful batteries of one and two hun- 
dred-pounder rifled guns placed there, Fort 
Sumter would have been rendered untenable 
in two days' fire. Fort Pulaski was breached 
and taken from Goat's Point, on Tybee Island, 
a precisely similar proposition, with 32-pounder 
Parrott guns, 42-pounder James guns, and a 



33 

few lo-inch Columbiads ; the 13-inch mortars 
used in that bombardment having proved 
utterly valueless. I mention these things to 
show how certain would have been the fall of 
Fort Sumter under the fire of the one and 
two hundred-pounders, rifled, now at my com- 
mand. 

On the afternoon of the iron-clad attack 
on Fort Sumter, the troops on Folly Island 
were not only ready to cross Light House 
Inlet, but were almost in the act, the final 
reconnoissance having been made, the boats 
ready, and the men under arms for crossing, 
when they were recalled, as I hoped merely 
temporarily, by the announcement of Admiral 
Du Pont that he had resolved to retire, and 
that consequently we could expect no assist- 
ance from the navy. 

Immediately the Admiral was waited upon 
by an officer of my stafT, who represented the 
forwardness of our preparations for crossing, 



34 

the evidently unprepared condition of the 
enemy to receive us ; while any delay, now 
that our intentions were unmasked, would give 
the enemy time to erect upon the southern 
end of Morris Island, commanding Light 
House Inlet, those works and batteries which 
he had heretofore neglected. To these con- 
siderations, earnestly and elaborately urged, 
the Admiral's answer was that he '' would not 
fire another shot." 

A lodgment on Morris Island was thus 
made impossible for us, the enemy having 
powerful works on the island, more especially 
at the northern end, out of which we could 
not hope to drive him unless aided by a cross- 
fire from the navy. I therefore determined 
to hold what we had got until the Admiral 
should have had time to repair his vessels ; 
and to this hour we hold every inch of ground 
on Folly and Cole's and Seabrook's Islands that 
we held on the day of the expected crossing. 



35 

Since then I have exercised patience with 
the Admiral, and have pushed forward my 
works and batteries on Folly Island with unre- 
mitting diligence; the enemy, meanwhile, tho- 
roughly aroused to their danger, throwing up 
works that completely commanded Light House 
Inlet, on the southern end of Morris Island; so 
that the crossing which could have been effect- 
ed in a couple of hours, and with little sacrifice, 
six weeks ago, will now involve, whenever 
attempted, protracted operations and a very 
serious loss of Hfe. And to what end should 
this sacrifice be made without the co-operation 
of the navy ? Even when established on the 
southern end of Morris Island, the northern 
end, with its powerful works, and commanded 
by the fire of Forts Sumter and Johnson, 
would still remain to be possessed. The 
sacrifice would be of no avail without the aid 
of the navy ; and I have been painfully but 
finally convinced that from the navy no such 



36 

aid is to be expected. I fear Admiral Du 
Pont distrusts the iron-clads so much that he 
has resolved to do nothing with them this 
summer; and, therefore, I most urgently beg 
of you to liberate me from those orders to 
''cooperate with the navy " which now tie me 
down to share the Admiral's inactivity. Re- 
maining in our present situation, we do not 
even detain one soldier of the enemy from 
service elsewhere. I am well satisfied that 
they have already sent away from Charleston 
and Savannah all the troops not absolutely 
needed to orarrison the defences, and these will 

o 

have to remain in the works whether an enemy 
be in sight or not. 

Liberate me from this order to " co-operate 
with the navy in an attack on Charleston," 
and I will immediately place a column of ten 
thousand of the best-drilled soldiers in the 
country (as unquestionably are the troops of 
this Department) in the heart of Georgia, our 



37 

landing and marching being made through 
counties in which, as shown by the census, 
the slave population is 75 per cent, of the 
inhabitants. Nothing is truer, sir, than 
that this rebellion has left the Southern 
States a mere hollow shell. If we avoid 
their few strongholds, where they have pre- 
pared for and invited us to battle, we shall 
meet no opposition in a total devastation of 
their resources ; thus compelling them to 
break up their large armies and garrisons 
at a few points into scores of small fractions 
of armies for the protection of every threatened 
or assailable point. I will guarantee, with the 
troops now fruitlessly though laboriously occu- 
pying Folly and Seabrook Islands, and such 
other troops as can be spared from the re- 
maining posts of this department, to penetrate 
into Georgia, produce a practical dissolution 
of the slave system there, destroy all railroad 
communication along the eastern portion of 



38 

the State, and lay waste all stores which 
can possibly be used for the sustenance of 
the rebellion. 

My troops are in splendid health and dis- 
cipline, and, in my judgment, are more 
thoroughly in sympathy with the policy of 
the Government than any other equal body 
of men in the service of the United States 
to-day. With the exception of one brigadier- 
general and one colonel commanding a 
brigade, there is not an officer of any con- 
sequence in the command who is not heart 
and soul in favor of prosecuting this war by 
every and any means likely to ensure success. 
Only once liberate me from enforced waiting 
on the action of those who, I fear, are not 
likely to do anything, and I promise you 
that I will give full employment to twice or 
thrice my number of the enemy; and that 
while RosECRANS threatens Bragg in front, 
I will interrupt his communications, threaten 



39 

his rear, and spread a panic through the 
country. 

In this connection, I would ask, if possible, 
for a regiment of cavalry, and that the 
brigade sent by me to the relief of Major- 
General Foster may be ordered back from 
North Carolina. If no cavalry can be spared, 
then that five hundred horses and a thousand 
saddles and equipments may be sent to me 
immediately. Also, that the pikes drawn for 
my chief of ordnance may be supplied im- 
mediately ; these weapons being the simplest 
and most effective that can be placed in the 
hands of the slaves who are liberated in our 
march into the interior. 

In conclusion, I would again call attention 
to my request to be endowed with the same 
powers entrusted to Adjutant- General Thomas, 
for raising colored regiments and giving com- 
missions to their officers. I think this of 
the utmost importance, as each commission 



40 

promptly given to a deserving non-commis- 
sioned officer or private, has the effect of 
conciHating the sentiment of the regiment 
from which the appointee is taken ; and it 
is of the utmost importance that the experi- 
ment of colored soldiers should have the 
hearty acquiescence of the troops with whom 
they serve. 

I deem this matter of so much import- 
ance, and am so weary of inactivity, that I 
send this letter by special steamer to Fortress 
Monroe, and have instructed the captain of 
the vessel to wait for your reply. 
I have the honor to be, sir. 
Very respectfully. 

Your obedient servant, 
(Signed) D. HUNTER, 

Major- Ge?ieral Commanding. 

His Excellency A. Lincoln, 

President of the United States. 



41 

I send this letter by Captain Arthur M. 
KiNZiE, one of my aides-de-camp, who will 
await your answer, and return immediately 
by the steamer which bears this to Fortress 
Monroe. 

(Signed) D. HUNTER, 

Major- General. 



This letter was published in the Report of 
the Hon. Secretary of the Navy on "Armored 
Vessels," made by order of Congress, in 1864, 
pages no. III, and 112. 

I was '' temporarily " relieved from the 
command of the Department of the South, 
in order to give another officer an oppor- 
tunity to try his plans for the reduction of 
Fort Sumter and the City of Charleston. In 
reference to this suspension of my command, 
I addressed to Mr. Lincoln the following 
note, dated June 25, 1863: 



42 



Princeton, New Jersey, June 25, 1863. 

To His Excellency A. Lincoln, 

President of the United States : 

Sir : You cannot fail to be aware that my 
removal from the command of the Depart- 
ment of the South has been all but universally 
regarded as a censure on my conduct, while 
in that command. 

Satisfied and well knowing that I acted 
throughout in strict obedience to orders, and 
that my record when published will prove 
an ample vindication of my course, I now 
respectfully request of you liberty to make 
such publication of official documents and 
records as may be necessary to set me right 
in the eyes of my friends, and in the justice 
of history. The time has now passed when 
any injurious effect to the public service could 
possibly arise from such publication. 



43 

Knowing how greatly your time Is occu- 
pied, I shall regard your silence In reply to 
this note as giving me the liberty I ask, and 
will act accordingly. Should you deem such 
publications as I propose unadvlsable, will 
you be kind enough to notify me of your 
opinion without delay ? 
I have the honor to be, sir. 

Very respectfully, 
Your most obedient servant, 

DAVID HUNTER, 

Major -General. 

To this letter I received a kind but not alto- 
gether satisfactory reply, which Is as follows : 

Executive Mansion, Washington, 
June 30, 1863. 

My Dear General : I have just received 
your letter of the 25th of June. 

I assure you, and you may feel authorized 



44 

In stating, that the recent change of command- 
ers in the Department of the South was made 
for no reasons which convey any imputation 
upon your known energy, efficiency, and pa- 
triotism ; but for causes which seemed suffi- 
cient while they were in no degree incompat- 
ible with the respect and esteem in which I 
have always held you as a man and an officer. 
I cannot, by giving my consent to a pub- 
lication of whose details I know nothing, as- 
sume the responsibility of whatever you may 
write. In this matter, your own sense of mili- 
tary propriety must be your guide, and the 
regulations of the service your rule of conduct. 
I am, very truly, 

Your friend, 

A. LINCOLN. 

Major-Gen. Hunter. 

The latter paragraph of this letter refers to 
my earnest request to be relieved from the 



45 
operation of the Army Regulation forbidding 
commanding generals making any publications 
with regard to military affairs. I made this 
request because I knew that serious misappre- 
hensions prevailed In reference to my Depart- 
ment, which no one was able to correct but 
myself 

Mr. Lincoln Informed me that the tempo- 
rary suspension of my command, above alluded 
to, was due In a great measure to the influence 
of the Hon. Horace Greeley. The know- 
ledge of that fact Induced me to address the 
followino- letter to Mr. Greeley: 

Port Royal, South Carolina, 
June 12, 1863. 

H. Greeley, Esq., New York: 

Sir : Since you have undertaken the at- 
tack on Charleston, I sincerely hope you will 
be more successful than In your first advance 
on Richmond, in which you wasted much ink, 
and other men shed some blood. It is clear 



46 

from your paper that you knew nothing of the 
orders which bound me to a particular course 
of action, which orders I strictly followed, and 
for obeying which I am censured. Worse than 
any wound our enemies can inflict, are the 
stabs in the dark of pretended friends. The 
country must be informed that you have charge 
of this second attack on Charleston, so that 
on you may rest the praise or censure. 
Very respectfully, 

Your most ob. servant, 

D. HUNTER. 

It may not be out of place to state that Fort 
Sumter remained unreduced until the end of 
the war, and was then stronger than at the 
beginning. 

PROPOSED EXPEDITIONS THROUGH THE GULF 
STATES. 

It will be seen by my letter of the 2 2d of 
May, 1863, to the President, previously given. 



47 

that I urged him hi the strongest terms to be 
liberated from the order to '' co-operate with the 
navy in an attack on Charleston," well know- 
inof that Admiral Du Pont had declared he 
would not fire another gun, and to be permit- 
ted to make an expedition into the heart 
of Georgia, our landing and marching being 
made through counties in which, as shown by 
the census, the slave population is seventy-five 
per cent, of the inhabitants. 

And, in my letter to the Hon. Secretary of 
War of the 31st of August, 1863, I begged to 
be permitted to land a force at Brunswick, 
Georgia, and march through Georgia, Ala- 
bama, and Mississippi, arming all the negroes 
as I advanced, and striking for New Orleans. 

And again, in my letter to Mr. Stanton, 
from Louisville, Ky., I say : 

" There are now crowded Into the States of 
Alabama and Georgia near two millions of 
negroes, furnishing four hundred thousand 



48 

fighting men, all ready, willing, and anxious to 
be drafted, and making much better soldiers 
than most of the men who require six and 
seven hundred dollars to induce them to ' vo- 
lunteer! Twenty, fifteen, or even ten thousand 
men, marched rapidly into these States, with- 
out baggage, without artillery, subsisting on 
the country, carrying arms and ammunition for 
the negroes, and officers enough for one hun- 
dred thousand men, could go, without serious 
opposition, directly from Vicksburg to Charles- 
ton. I think you will find that this small force 
can now well be spared, and I am confident it 
could march from the Mississippi to the Atlan- 
tic without serious opposition. A general re- 
bellion among these crowded negroes would 
certainly produce great demoralization through- 
out the rebel army. The corn crop is very 
abundant, and if we can get nothing else we 
can live on the corn. We certainly should be 
able to do whatever the rebels can. The 



49 

negroes would know every path, as they make 
most of their visits in the night, and we should 
thus be able to march just as well at night as 
in the day. 

*' I beg you will telegraph me to this place 
authority to take charge of an expedition of 
this kind. 

*' I have the honor to be, very respectfully, 
''DAVID HUNTER, 

Major- General^ 

Mr. Stanton informed me that both Mr. 
Lincoln and himself approved this plan, but 
that a sufficient number of men could not at 
that time be spared for the attempt. 

In the fall of 1863, I was ordered by the 
Hon. Secretary of War to inspect all the 
troops in the Valley of the Mississippi, under 
command of General Grant. I was with 
Gen. Grant at the battle of Mission Ridge, 
on the 23d, 24th, and 25th November, 1863. 



so 

My inspection duties continued until April, 
1864. I was then ordered to visit General 
Banks, at that time in command at Alex- 
andria, La., on the Red River. 

CAMPAIGN IN THE VALLEY OF VIRGINIA. 

On my return from the Red River, I 
was ordered to the command of the De- 
partment of West Virginia, May 19, 1864. 
For a complete account of my operations in 
this department, I beg to refer to the report 
of my Chief of Staff, General D. H. Strother 
— annexed to this report. 

The importance of our attack on Lynch- 
burg was fully appreciated by the enemy. 
General Strother, a native Virginian, spent 
the first year after the war in Richmond. 
His official position, as Secretary of State 
and Adjutant- General of Virginia, brought 
him into contact with many of the ex-rebel 
officers, who all spoke in strong terms of 



51 

the great Injury our raid inflicted on the 
Confederacy. 

Mr. Jefferson Davis also, in his speech to 
the people of Georgia, at Macon, after the 
fall of Adanta, said : " An audacious move- 
ment of the enemy up to the very walls of 
Lynchburg had rendered It necessary that 
the Government should send a formidable 
body of troops to cover that vital point, 
which had otherwise been intended for the 
relief of Adanta." 

The following despatch from General Grant 
to the Assistant Secretary of War relates to 
the same subject : 

Headquarters, Armies of the United States, 

City Point, Va., July 15, 1864. 

C. A. Dana, Acting Secretary of War : 

I am sorry to see such a disposition to con- 
demn a brave old soldier, as General Hunter 
is known to be, without a hearing. He is 



52 

known to have advanced into the enemy's 
country, towards their main army, inflicted a 
much greater damage upon them, than they 
have inflicted upon us, with double his force, 
and moving directly away from our main 
army. Hunter acted, too, in a country where 
he had no friends, whilst the enemy have 
only operated in territory, where, to say the 
least, many of the inhabitants are their 
friends. 

If General Hunter has made war on the 
newspapers in West Virginia, probably he 
has done right. 

I fail to see yet that General Hunter 
has not acted with great promptness and 
great success. Even the enemy give him 
great credit for courage, and congratulate 
themselves that he will give them a chance 
of getting even with him. 

U. S. GRANT, 

Lieut.- General, 



53 

I was, at my own request, relieved from 
the com.mand of the Department of West 
Virginia, August 8, 1864. 

COURTS-MARTIAL AND COMMISSIONS. 

As already stated, I acted as President of 
the Court- Martial, convened 23d September, 
1862, for the trial of General Fitzjohn 
Porter. On the ist of February, 1865, I 
was President of the Court- Martial which 
met at Paducah, Ky., for the trial of Briga- 
dier-General E. A. Paine, of Illinois ; Colonel 
Wm. McK. Dunn being the Judge-Advo- 
cate of the Court, 

I was also President of the Court of En- 
quiry, of which General Edmund Schriver, 
Inspector- General, was Recorder, which met 
at Nashville, Tenn., and Louisville, Ky., in 
the fall of 1863, to enquire into the conduct 
of Generals McCook, Crittenden, and Neg- 



54 

LEY, at the battle of Chickamauga, Septem- 
ber 19 and 20, 1863. 

In April, 1865, I was detailed as one of the 
general officers to accompany the remains of 
President Lincoln to Springfield, Illinois, but 
was recalled by a telegram from the Hon. 
Secretary of War, to preside at the Military 
Commission convened for the trial of the 
assassins of the President, which met in this 
city on the 9th of May, 1865. Of that Com- 
mission, Gen. Joseph Holt, Judge-Advocate 
General, was the Judge-Advocate, assisted 
by the Hon. John A. Bingham, of Ohio. 

I was on duty during the fall of 1866 as 
President of the Special Claims Commission, 
and as President of the Board for the examina- 
tion of officers promoted to the cavalry. 

BREVET rank. 

I was brevetted a Brigadier- General in the 
United States Army on the 13th of March, 



55 



1865, for gallant and meritorious services 
at the battle of Piedmont, and during the 
campaign in the Valley of Virginia ; and a 
Major- General in the United States Army, 
March 13, 1865, for gallant and meritorious 
services during the Rebellion. 



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